walker



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. WALKER.

TAB CONNECTOR FOR SUSPENDER BB-AGES.

No. 258,245. Patented Feb. 7 ,1882.

FIG-l FIO-IIF-lO-JH Flo-N N. PETERS. PholwLilhu n lmr. wnshm wn, D. c

2 SheetS Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

T. WALKER.

TAB OON-NEGT 0R FORSUSPENDER BRAOES. No. 253,245. I Patented Feb-7,1882.

PETERS, Pmwulm m. wnsmnjm o. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

THOMAS \VALKER, OF BIRMINGHAM, COUNTY OF VV'ARWIOK, ENGLAND.

TAB-CONNECTOR FOR S USPENDER-BRACES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 253,245, dated February 7, 1882.

Application filed August 4, 1881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS \VALKER, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Birmingham, in the county of WVarwick, England, manufacturer, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Tab-O01 nectors ot' Braces for Suspending Trousers and Drawers, (for which I have received Letters Patent in England, No. 1,178, dated 17th March, 1881,)of which the folfowingis aspecification.

My invention consists in constructing the tab-connectors of braces for suspending trousers and drawers in the manner hereinafter described.

In making a tab-connector according to my invention I take a blank of sheet metal having disk-shaped ends and fold or double the said blank at its middle so as to form two parallel arms, the fold having a tubular figure given to it, for the purpose hereinafter explained. One of the said arms is cranked or bent so as to keep the disk carried by it a short distance from the other disk. Aspring-clip is thus formed, the disk ends of the arms of the clip being parallel and separated a short dis tance from each other.

Projecting from the inner face of the unbent disk end of the clip, and in the middle thereof, is a conical eyelet or tubular shank. This eyeleted disk end of the clip has an external covering-disk fixed to it. The bent or cranked disk end of the clip is perforated at its middle with a hole of a size proper for the end of the eyelet or shank on the other disk end to pass through.

A metallic connector for the tabs or ends of braces is thus formed. In connecting the tabs or ends of the brace to the metallic connector the spring-arms of the said connector are separated a short distance and the perforated ends of the tabs are passed onto the eyelet or tubular stem. then closed upon one another and the end of the eyelet or tubular stem on one of the disk ends made to enter the hole in the other disk end. By now riveting or expanding the projecting end of the eyelet or stem upon the outer face of the cranked disk end the two arms of the connector are secured together and the tabs fixed between them, the said tabs being The arms of the connector are (No model.) Patented in England March 17, 1881.

capableot' turning upon the eyelet or tubular stem as a center.

hen the metallic tab-connector is to be appliedto the front tabs of the brace the upper part of the said connector is secured to the lower bar of the trame of the brace-buckle or brace-fastener, the said lower bar of the frame being situated in the tubular part or eye at the junction of the two folded parts or arms of the connector. Vhen the metallic tab-connector is to be applied to the back tabs of the brace a metallic loop is inserted in the tubular part or eye described, to which loop the webs of the brace are connected.

I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawings the manner in which my invention is to be performed.

Figure I represents in front elevation, Fig. II in vertical section, and Fig. III in edge view, a tab-connector for the front tabs of a brace constructed according to my invention. Fig. IV represents a front elevation of a tab-connector for the back tabs of a brace constructed according to my invention.

a b are the parallel arms constituting the springclip of the connector, between which arms the upper ends of the brace-tabs c c are secured.

d is the bent or cranked part of the arm I), for the purpose of keeping the disk of the arm I) carried by it a short distance from the other disk, a.

fis the conical eyelet or tubular shank, made from the disk of the front arm, at.

g is the separate cupped disk, by which the eycleted disk of the clip is covered. The conical eyelet or tubular shank fprojeets through a perforation at c in the disk of the back arm, I), and the extreme end of the saideyelet is riveted or expanded upon the outer face of the back disk, as seen in the section, and the two arms, a 1), thereby secured together. The perforated ends of the tabs 0 c, which have previously been passed onto the eyelet f, are thus confined between the arms a b of the clip, the said tabs being capable of turning upon the eyelet or tubular stem f as a center, as will be understood by an examination of Fig. II. The fold or double of the plate from which the spring-clip is made constitutes a tubular part or long eye, h, in which the lower bar of the brace-buckle frame i or other brace-fastener is placed before the two arms a b are fixed together by riveting the eyelet or stemf.

In the tab-connector, Fig. IV, for the back tabs of the brace a loop, is, is substituted for the buckle-frame t, to which loop is the webs of the brace are connected, as usual.

In making the tab-connector I proceed as follows: I cut out from sheet metal a blank of the kind represented in Fig. V, the said blank havingdisk-shapedendsa b From themiddle of the disk a I make, by a series of shaping or raising processes effected by dies and tools in the ordinary way, a conical eyelet or tubular stem, and pierce or cut out the bottom of the said eyelet or stem, as seen in side elevation, front elevation, and section in Fig. VI, and marked f. The extreme end of the eyelet f is of less diameter than the other part, the reduced part being used for riveting the eyelet to the clip, as before described, the shoulder formed between the parts of diflerent diameters acting as a stop. The eyeleted disk end a of the partly-made clip is covered at front by an external cupped disk, g, represented separately in Fig. VII, and fixed in its place on the disk a in Fig. VIII by closing the edge of the said cupped disk around the edge of the disk M, as represented. The disk end I) is perforated with a hole, 0, suitable to receive the end of the eyelet f, the hole 0 being formed in a recess in disk-arm a so that when the end of eyelet f is spread to secure it therein a flushjoint will be formed. (See Fig. II.) The blank is operated upon so as to bend the partl out of the plane of the parts above and below it, as seen in Fig. VIII. The partly-made connector is next doubled or folded at the shoal der d, so as to bring the arms a l) of the con nector nearly parallel to one another, as illustrated in Fig. IX. The bending or folding last described produces at the upper end of the connector a tubular part or long eye, h, as illustrated in Fig. IX, made from the cranked part d, the other cranked part, 61 being unoperated upon and forming the shoulder in the finished connector, by which the two arms of theclip are kept at the required distance apart. (See Fig. II.) While the clip is in the stage Fig. IX the bottom bar of the buckle or other fastening-frame i is passed into the eye h, as illustrated in front elevation in Fig. X and side elevation in Fig. XI. The connector thus made is now ready to receive the perforated ends of the tabs 0 0, Figs. I, II, III, and IV. The spring-arms of the clip being separated a short distance from one another, the perforated ends of the tabs are passed onto the eyelet or tubular stemf, and the arms of the connector being closed upon one another, the perforated end of the arm b passes onto the extreme end of the eyelet f on the other arm, abutting against the shoulder or stop on the said eyelet, and by a riveting process the projecting end of the eyelet is riveted or expanded outside the disk end of the arm I)? and upon the depression around the hole in the said disk end of the arm 0 The two arms of the connector are thus secured together and the tabs fixed between them, as before described, and illustrated in Figs. I, II, III, and IV.

Having now described the nature of my invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my invention- 1. A tab-connector formed of a bent metal strip with an eyelet drawn out of one arm of the strip and spanning the entire space between the arms, and havingits end riveted or expanded on the outer face of the other arm, sustantially as described.

2. The combination, with two separate tabs having holesin their upper ends, of a tab-connector comprising a bent strip of metal with an eyelet formed in one piece with said strip, said eyelet passing through the holes in said tabs and forming a pivot on which they may turn independently ot'each other, substantially as described.

3. A tabconnector comprising a. bent metal strip with one arm straight and provided with an eyelet, and the other arm cranked and provided with a hole to receive the eyelet, the ends of the two arms being connected by the eyelet, so that an approximately-rectangular recess is made between the said arms, and said eyelet serves as a pivot to the tabs, substantially as described.

THOMAS WALKER. Witnesses:

GEORGE SHAW, RICHARD SKERRETT, Both of N0. 37 Temple Street, Birmingham. 

